McDojo or not?

I want to get into MMA, but there's no place around here, so I have to settle for BJJ. This place is about 30 minutes away from me and the class days are good for me also. When I went to look at the videos though, they seem alittle weird, maybe it's just me, but can you tell me if this looks like a McDojo or is it legitimate?? The videos are on the right hand side.

I guess by McDojo you mean a place that doesn't necessarily offer the highest quality training and is basically looking to earn money.

I really doubt they are going to say "ok, pay me up front for years and year. Now...I don't know, put an arm bar on someone" while the sensei smokes out back. You're going to learn something, even if this isn't the most hardcore group you could hope to find. And if you feel its not up to your standards, you can quit. You'll probably be paying on a month to month basis, so no worries.

The way I look at it, if this is something you want to do and this is the only place near you, go for it. Whatever you learn will be more than you knew going in to the class. If you don't like it for find yourself able to attend a better class, then you will be able to do so, and you'll have at least some knowledge that you've learned from this dojo.

Most schools allow you to try out a few classes for free. Also, good schools will let you pay monthly. Therefore you can try it out for a month and see if you like the level/style of teaching. I've have both good and bad teachers in my 12 years experience and I have noticed that my opinion is merely my opinion. I've have teachers that I think are great and others can't stand them (and vice versa).

You really just have to try it out for yourself. IMO, there are only about 20-30% (if that) of dojos out there are good places to train.

One thing that sets warning bells off in my head are places that offer a myriad of training styles that are all tought by one person. That tells me I wont likely get the best instruction in that school.

All in all, you should be able to tell in one month if it will be a good school for you.

edit: I just looked at the link. If these guys are really black belts under the Machados, you can porobably trace their history as I think most legit BJJ blackbelts are registered. If they are, I think that is a pretty good pedigree for you to follow.

Most schools allow you to try out a few classes for free. Also, good schools will let you pay monthly. Therefore you can try it out for a month and see if you like the level/style of teaching. I've have both good and bad teachers in my 12 years experience and I have noticed that my opinion is merely my opinion. I've have teachers that I think are great and others can't stand them (and vice versa).

You really just have to try it out for yourself. IMO, there are only about 20-30% (if that) of dojos out there are good places to train.

One thing that sets warning bells off in my head are places that offer a myriad of training styles that are all tought by one person. That tells me I wont likely get the best instruction in that school.

All in all, you should be able to tell in one month if it will be a good school for you.

edit: I just looked at the link. If these guys are really black belts under the Machados, you can porobably trace their history as I think most legit BJJ blackbelts are registered. If they are, I think that is a pretty good pedigree for you to follow.

What he said. It would also help us if you could clarify what you believe a Mcdojo is or not. It's a term sometimes that get's thrown around to mean a bullshit school. There are Mcdojos out there that have decent instruction but have a bunch of other programs that can make the gym seem wishy washy. I would never put off a Machado Blackbelt though.

A McDojo to me is a place that doesn't really know what they're talking about and they just want your money. The instructors at this place do a BJJ program that a blackbelt comes in and the instructors have to be able to complete a level and the blackbelt certifys them to go on to the next level, the instructors at this place is not a blackbelt, he's a whitebelt. I checked and this school is on the very bottom, only level 1.

Last edited 6/20/07 10:44AM server time by fedorwins1Edit note/reason: n/a2 total post edits

Excerpt from http://www.lfmac.com/bjj.html "Welcome to Masterclass Grappling, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) based program developed by John Will and Dave Meyer, Black Belts under Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado." Not exactly sure what they mean by that.

I have undertaken classes directly from John Will (one of the dirty dozen) and he is an awesome teacher. He doesn't give belts out easily, takes at least 10 years I believe to get a black belt. Although I don't know why they are using his name, I wasn't aware he had any schools in the US. Might have to send him a copy of the link to him to make sure they have permission to use his name.

The fact that it doesn't mention who the bjj instructor is under the instructors section is some cause for concern.

Depending what part of PA your in there is a school that just opened in the Scranton area I was told about by a friend who still lives there I beleive it is run by Dan Severon... might be worth checking out.. though PA is a big place...